Blackwood Mountain
"You think these guys are rich? They only bought a mountain!" —Angelica to Josh The Blackwood Mountain (colloquially known as Mount Washington) is a large mountain located in the Canadian Rockies in Alberta, Canada. The mountain itself is houses a mining system, the Washington Estate and the Blackwood Sanatorium. The events of The Rise of Them take place on the mountain. The mountain is under protection of the Park Ranger Service of Blackwood County. The Mountain The mountain is home to a variety of different kinds species of wildlife. There is a mountain stream that flows into a waterfall and a river near the bottom. The mountain is heavily wooded and is rich with resources as there is a mine located within it to access its tin deposits. There are also quite a few danger spots on the mountain which includes a maze of caverns, cliffs as well as dangerous wildlife. While being colossal in size the mountain's elevation is low enough to not be covered in snow year around. The only access to the mountain is by use of a cable car that connects it to the nearby Mount Madahee. History 1893 The mountain was once home to a Native Tribe the Cree. The Cree believed in living in harmony with the mountain by not disturbing its wildlife. The Cree also believed that butterflies of different colors would bring premonitions involving those around it. Tin and Radium was discovered inside of the mountain which lead to a mining boom as prospectors closed in on the area from afar. A mine was established owned and operated by Jefferson Bragg, the same man who would preside over the asylum established years later. Eventually the Cree left the mountain due to colonial westward expansion and the havoc the miners were causing. 1920s In 1922, the Blackwood Pines Sanatorium was established. 1952 In 1952 due to poor maintenance, a catastrophic structural collapse occurred trapping thirty miners inside the mines without any food, and light. They managed to stay alive from drinking from an underground spring, however without anything to eat for twenty four days, they were driven mad by their appetites with twelve of them resorting to killing and cannibalizing the other miners. The remaining twelve miners were rescued and admitted to the Sanatorium or treatment. A coverup operation was orchestrated by Bragg in order to ensure that he wasn't held responsible for the accident. This was done by keeping the survivors at the Sanatorium as patients due to "post traumatic stress," sending telegrams warning reporters to stay away, as well as guards assaulting investigative reporters and smashing their cameras when they were caught on the Asylum grounds. The survivors were closely monitored by staff and were shocked to find that the survivors weren't in the conditions that they expected them to be in. Within twelve days survivors were becoming aggressive, displaying a substantial increase in strength, assaulting other patients and staff, teeth and fingernails sharpening and expanding, and their skin growing tougher. The staff then locked the survivors individually in cells behind heavy metal doors. On February 24, a feral miner released himself from confinement in a chair and climbed up the wall and attacked and killed a nurse as she walked in. Chaos and order within the Asylum collapsed as the eleven other miners burst from their cells and began slaughtering the staff and patients throughout the Asylum. Jefferson Bragg barricaded himself in a hidden room in his office and listened to the sound of people screaming as they were eaten alive by creatures that used to be miners. 2000s The property on the mountain was soon acquired by American movie mogul Bob Washington and his wife Sarah with the intent of using the mountain as a vacation spot for their growing family. They started this process by demolishing the hotel and firing its staff in order to begin the construction of a multistory chalet style mansion. They encountered problems with the stranger, who warned them against pursuing their project as the land was sacred to his forefathers. February 2014 Sometime in 2014, Bob Washington would encounter the creatures of the mines while out hunting one night. He managed to return to the lodge to collect his wife and son, but as they fled, Sarah was killed by one of the creatures. Bob and his son managed to escape the mountain, but nobody ever heard of them after that. December 1-2 2016 The Washington Lodge would be one of the few sites that Karsten and his friends would go for their annual winter getaways. However the night would turn deadly as the friends fall victim to the miners turned wendigo and attempt to survive the night until rescue comes in the morning. Locations Locations on the mountain include: Blackwood Pines The forest which make out most of the mountain. Washington Lodge The mansion that serves as one of the main settings of the story. Blackwood Pines Hotel An old hotel that closed its doors in the nineties. The former structure still sits on the mountain. Blackwood Sanitorium An old insane asylum located on a ridge adjacent to the Washington Estate. The North West Mines A labyrinth of caverns and tunnels located in the heart of the mountain. Trivia *Strangers have been repeatedly caught trespassing on the mountain, prompting the Washington's to set up a large security gate as well as locking the cable car station. *It is never known if Bob Washington purchased the entire mountain, or just property on it. *Blackwood Mountain and Blackwood Pines may be named for the writer and broadcaster Algernon Blackwood, who wrote the short story "The Wendigo" in 1910.